Mycoplasmas are the smallest cell wall less, free-living microorganisms. The lack of a cell wall makes them resistant to many of the common antibiotics. Every year, infections caused by Mycoplasmas in poultry, cows, and pigs, result in multimillion euros losses in USA and Europe. Currently, there are vaccines against M hyopneumoniae in pigs and M gallisepticum and M synoviae in poultry. However, there is no vaccination against many Mycoplasma species infecting pets, humans and farm animals (ie M bovis cow infection). Mycoplasma species in many cases are difficult to grown in axenic culture and those that grow need a complex media with animal serum. In large scale production of Mycoplasma species for vaccination aside from the high cost of animal serum, more important is the high irreproducibility in the production process and the possible contamination with animal viruses. All this together highlights what European industry needs:i) a defined cheap reproducible medium that is animal serum free and ii) an universal Mycoplasma chassis that could be used in a pipeline to vaccinate against Mycoplasma species, as well as any pathogen. M pneumoniae is an ideal starting point for designing such a vaccine chassis. It has a small genome (860 kb) and it is probably the organism with the most comprehensive systems biology data acquired so far. By genome comparison, metabolic modeling and rationally engineering its genome, we will create a vaccine chassis that will be introduced into an industrial pipeline. The process will be guided by the second world largest industry on animal vaccination (MSD), as well as a SME specialized on peptide display and screening. This will ensure the exploitation and commercialization of our work contributing to maintain Europe privileged position in this field. Our ultimate goal is to meet the needs of the livestock industry,taking care of ethical issues, foreseeable risks, and prepare effective dissemination and training material for the public.

The ongoing increase of the human population accompanied by growing numbers of livestock to feed this population, as well as human invasion into natural habitats of wild animals makes humans progressively vulnerable to animal pathogens. Global trade as well as climate changes can contribute to pathogen transmission, e.g. through import of infected vectors or expansion of habitats for arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes and midges. Examples for this include recent European outbreaks of the arthropod-borne Dengue, West Nile, Schmallenberg and Usutu viruses in humans, ruminants and birds. Infectious disease outbreaks in animals are often unexpected, but we should be prepared for immediate identification of the causing agent and the evaluation of its pathogenic potential for animals and humans. Preparedness needs expertise in many areas. At surveillance sites early detection and identification of viruses involved in outbreaks is crucial. Screening of different animal species and humans who have been in close contact with (diseased) animals for known or yet undiscovered viruses will also help to be prepared for future outbreaks. Novel viruses in these populations will have to be evaluated for their pathogenicity in susceptibility studies. The HONOURs network will generate new health and scientific knowledge with the aim to locate, identify, characterize, contain, and control infections that are caused by zoonotic agents. The aim of HONOURs is to provide top-quality cross-disciplinary and supra-sectorial training to 15 promising young researchers at the interface of veterinary and human health, virology, biostatistics, and pathogen discovery. These early stage researchers will become “preparedness- experts”.